Accurate spitzers?

[KWK]

Are any of the modern spitzers found to be generally as accurate in the .30 Krag as the Hornady 220 RN?

Modern sources recommend the RN for accuracy in this round and report often mediocre accuracy with spitzers, yet in Whelen's 1918 book he praised the accuracy of the spitzers in commercial .30 Krag loads. Surely one of the modern profiles will duplicate his findings.

[psteinmayer]

Krags are fascinating beasts... and just like all entities, different Krags like different food. Some people do very well with 150, 168, and 180 gr spitzer bullets. Some shoot 150 gr RN and even 130 gr RN bullets with great success (I have a friend that routinely shoots 290 or better in CMP matches with his 1896 shooting 150 gr RN). Many others do better with cast spitzers. My Cast Bullet rig is a 1898 cutoff sporter in a Bishop stock with a Kraghaus Long rail and an LER scope. Shooting NOE 311365 185 gr Spitzers, I can almost shoot 1/2 inch groups at 200 yards. My rifle LOVES 220 gr Hornady RN bullets. It's really a matter of playing with different loads until you find the one that works best for you and your particular Krag.

[KWK]

It's really a matter of playing with different loads until you find the one that works best for you and your particular Krag.

Thanks, I figured as much, but thought the asking might winnow the field a bit.

My .30 Krag rolling block is now disassembled in preparation for a trip to a gunsmith. I'll start with the common 168 gr spitzers when it returns. The 100 yd range was closed the day I tried my first 220 RN loads, but the 50 yd results are promising.

[madsenshooter]

I've been playing with some odd ones. Lightweights. 123gr Hornady .310 diameter V-Max out of my .310 groove diameter rifle. 130gr Federal bullet, 140gr Nosler HPBT out of my .308 groove diameter barrel. The square base V-Max worked about the best out of those. In my .308 groove diameter rifle, accuracy seemed to improve when I jumped up to 168gr Nosler BTHPs. I recently bought some Russian made steel cased .303 British on the cheap. 173gr FMJBT that's .310 diameter. Small wonder they wouldn't work very good in Enfields. I'm going to pull the bullets, size them to .308 for my .308 bore, leave them .310 for the larger bored one, and report the results here. I think you'd do best experimenting with 168s and up. I'd like to find an affordable square base match bullet to try out, but nobody makes one. Nosler has introduced a plastic tipped 220gr BTRN, but those are outta my price range. Nosler is claiming a BC of .472 for this new bullet. Grafs has them in stock.

[KWK]

I think you'd do best experimenting with 168s and up.

Whelen's favorable comments were in regards to the 172 through 190 spitzers back then, that's why I planned to start with 168. While I'll follow your advice and work upward in weight, eventually I'll want to work downward, for my bony teenager didn't care for the recoil in my rifle firing the 220 RN.

I hadn't seen that Nosler. I don't think I've ever seen a BTRN; a BT is usually on some spitzer. The Nosler that caught my eye was the ABLR, with opening speeds as low as 1300 combined with very high BC, but as you say, "outta my price range."

[psteinmayer]

My friend who shoots the 150 gr RN bullets reports that the recoil is extremely light, which is one of the factors in his shooting such high scores. He can shoot unbelievable Off Hand scores. You might work up a load for him with a 150 gr or lighter bullet with a light powder load. The recoil will be quite manageable while still getting good accuracy at least at 100 yards. If you aren't worried about feeding, you could use a 150 gr FMJBT design (not all Krags feed spitzers smoothly. Don't know about rolling block rifles).

[KWK]

... not all Krags feed spitzers smoothly. Don't know about rolling block rifles...

It's a single shot; it feeds any bullet smoothly. ;D

An advantage is I can seat bullets further out, but the throat is pretty long in the SAAMI Krag, and the shorter bullets may not have enough neck.